My Blogging Story

Since Inquiring Minds Want to Know My Blogging Story, I thought I'd oblige.  Actually, they wanna know yours too . . . so join in by answering these questions and leaving your linky-da-link-link here.

How did you start blogging?
I've had a website since 1999, and I would have loved to have started way back then if I'd known about it then.   In 2003, I found Blogger, but didn't quite get the concept, so I started an online database of stories from Taiwan that were totally static--not interactive at all. 

In 2005, I started to use MSN spaces since I used MSN messenger quite a bit back then. The biggest problem I've had with blogging is "who is my audience?".  Using MSN spaces answered that question for me since most of my MSN buddies were students.  So, I started by writing to my students. 

Then some how one day, I stumbled upon a blog written by about 5 stay-at-home moms.  Then clickty click click . . . I found my way to Two Talent Living (now known as A Gracious Home) and Always Thirsty (now closed). 

As I clicked and surfed my way through bloggy world, I instantly found that there was a possible audience out there other than my students.  And, it excited me.  So, I opened up a typepad account and haven't looked back since.

Did you intend
to be a blog w/a following? If so, how did you go about it?
"A following"??  No.  "Readers?"  Yes. 

I didn't really "go about it."  I like being a small blog with a smaller readership.  I do think participating in carnivals and being an active commenter on other blogs helps create e-relationships which can boost readership

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been
successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?
Mostly I was and still am interested in writing for my friends and
family back in America, as well as for other Christians who are
interested in knowing what life is like for a single, missionary gal
living in Taiwan.

I would like draw attention to missions in general and ministry in Taiwan in particular.  I want to showcase for others what life is like for me here in Taiwan.  I want to bring glory to God by writing about what he is doing in and through me as I live here in Taiwan.

I hope I've been successful.  I know there are times my blog has gotten "fluffy" or has lacked driven purpose, but I do have a few changes in mind to help that.

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?
Not really.  The only thing I can think of is that I've gotten less personal/intimate in some ways.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?
I wish I had thought through some of the privacy issues.  My website was with my full name, so I also started blogging with my full name.  Not so sure I would do that if I could start over again.

Do you
make money with your blog?
No.

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?
Yes; they know and some read.  They are a main reason why I blog.  Even my grandparents and kid brother read my blog! :)  (Kid brother once even commented on the mispelled words in a story/post. A 13 year old correcting an English professor! Ha!!)  Oh, yeah, and my mom's cousin's wife, Cindy, reads my blog--she has been very encouraging all along the way. 

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?
1. As Taiwanese people love to say, "Don't think too much."  Once you've thought through the key issues and decided to blog, don't worry too much.  Play with your blog and enjoy it.  Look for what you like on other blogs and see how you yourself could emmulate it in your own way.

2. If you are looking for ways to build readership, participate in carnivals, memes, and go out into the bloggy-world and leave comments.  Just like you have to be a friend to get a friend. . . you have to (start by) be(ing) a reader to get readers.